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UTC men adding Boyd Buchanan standout Caleb Hardaway next season

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Boyd Buchanan's Caleb Hardaway (2) drives as McCallie's Trell Knight defends during the Best of Preps boys' championship game on Jan. 5 at Chattanooga State. Hardaway will be joining the UTC men's basketball program as a walk-on player next season, he announced Thursday on Instagram. Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Boyd Buchanan's Caleb Hardaway (2) drives as McCallie's Trell Knight defends during the Best of Preps boys' championship game on Jan. 5 at Chattanooga State. Hardaway will be joining the UTC men's basketball program as a walk-on player next season, he announced Thursday on Instagram.

By Gene Henley April 23, 2026 2 min read

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball team added to its roster for the 2026-27 season Wednesday, when Boyd Buchanan senior Caleb Hardaway announced on Instagram that he would be joining the Mocs as a walk-on player.

The 6-foot-7 Hardaway was among Chattanooga’s top high school players during his time with the Buccaneers, finishing his prep career with more than 1,500 points. As a senior, he was named the TSSAA Division II-A District 2 player of the year and led the Bucs to the state semifinals, their first postseason run that deep since they won the program’s lone state title in 1996.

Hardaway averaged 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists and 1.5 blocks per game for the season, leading to his selection as a Times Free Press Best of Preps honoree. He becomes the second freshman to join UTC for the 2026-27 season, after the Mocs lost a total of 10 players due to graduation and transfers from the 2025-26 team that went 13-19 overall with a 7-11 record in Southern Conference play and a first-round exit at the league tournament.

Seven-footer John Fleeman, who prepped at Kingsville High School in Missouri, is the other incoming freshman for UTC. Fleeman averaged 24.8 points, 12.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while shooting 72% from the field and making 18 3-pointers on 50 attempts during his final prep season.

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Dan Earl — whose third season as head coach of the Mocs delivered the 2025 NIT championship — and his staff are also bringing in a pair of players from the NCAA transfer portal: guard Tre Powell from Division II’s Goldey-Beacom and forward Tyler Houser from Delaware, who is expected to miss the season due to injury but will have a year of eligibility remaining for 2027-28. The four newcomers join a quintet of returning players: fourth-year forward Sean Cusano, third-year walk-on forward Houston Holland and second-year players Zach Bleshoy, Josh Bowman and Tate Darner.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.